The rapid evolution of communication networks, including wireless communication networks for mobile communications, creates a demand for increasing bandwidth utilization efficiency. This need has been seen in a variety of communication network technologies, such as but not limited to, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) networks, 3G networks, etc. A common communication session may be composed of several types of data (also referred to as media): voice, video, computer data, signaling, etc. In addition, a single connection between two points, a source and a destination of a session, may be conducted over several type of networks: PSTN, TDMA, FDMA, ATM, IP, CDMA, cellular networks (1G or 2G or 3G), microwave links, as well as others and hybrids of one or more of these network types. In addition to the versatility that is mentioned above, a certain type of data may further be compressed or encrypted. The result of the above complexity is that a single communication connection between two points on the network may be based on a plurality of networks standards and communication protocols, compression standards, and encryption methods.
One common topology between a central location and a plurality of users can have a shape of a tree. In such architecture, a central point may be connected to one or more intermediate nodes. Further, each intermediate node may be connected to one or more other intermediate nodes and/or to one or more end user devices (for instance terminals). For example, in a 2G cellular network, a central node can be a BSC (base station controller) and an intermediate node can be a BTS a base transceiver stations (BTSs). In a 3G network, a central node can be a Radio Network Controller (RNC) and an intermediate node can be a node base station (Nb), for example. Another common topology can have a shape of a ring in which a central point (RNC or BSC, for example) and an intermediate node (BTS or Nb, for example) are connected to the ring. Exemplary terminals can be a cellular phone, a PDA with cellular capabilities, or any other computerized device that can generate and/or receive audio, video, data or any combination of those via a communication network, such as but not limited to, a cellular network.
Usually, a communication line between a central point and an intermediate node can carry a plurality of communication sessions between one or more other intermediate nodes and/or one or more terminals. Different types of networks and protocols can be used over such a communication line. The communication line can be based on Time Division Multiplexing Access (TDMA), Code division multiple access (CDMA), Addressing Time Multiplexing (ATM), Ethernet, etc. Each communication line can be divided into a plurality of channels. Each channel can be dedicated to a single connection between two terminals. There are some communication protocols in which a channel can be divided into two or more sub-channels. Each sub-channel can be dedicated to a single connection (session). Usually, the data transportation over a connection between an intermediate node and a central node can be organized in frames (packets, cells, chunks, sub-frames, etc). Each frame can have a header and a payload.
There are occasions in which similar information is transmitted over a plurality of channels or sub-channels around an interval of time. For example, this can occur when a plurality of users, which are connected via the same intermediate node, surf the same web-page, or listen to the same broadcast, advertising, content information, etc. Another exemplary occasion of transmitting similar data can occur in some networks, for example in a cellular 3G network, in which a soft handoff or handover (SHO) method is used for transferring a user from one Nb or a sector of Nb to another Nb or a sector within the same cell (Nb). For example, in CDMA systems, a cell can comprise one or more sectors of coverage (usually three). Each sector can produce data targeted toward the same user via independent transmitters that are used to transmit signals through antennas pointed in different directions. The set of sectors to which the terminal is currently linked to is referred to herein as the “active set”. A soft handoff occurs when a CDMA terminal adds a new sufficiently-strong sector to its active set while the radio link with the previous one or more sectors is not broken before a link is established with a new sector—this type of handoff is described as “make before break”.
In such cases, the communication line between the central node and the intermediate two or more nodes (sectors of the same cell, for example) may carry the similar data more than once (over different channels or sub channels) around the same interval of time. Repeating the transmitting of similar information over the same communication line bites off the bandwidth of overloaded communication lines.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for reducing the amount of times that similar data is transferred between two nodes over a plurality of different channels or sub-channels. The system can remove the repetitive data at ingress to a communication line and reconstruct it at the exit of the communication line. Such a system can improve bandwidth utilization over the communication line that connects a central node and an intermediate node.